In 2001 Blu Cantrell burst into the UK top 10 with the man-bashing Hit Em Up Style. In case we've since forgotten who she is, the song makes a reappearance on Bittersweet, her second album.

Cantrell's music is like a journal of her life: while her debut, So Blu, charted the desires of a young woman searching for the meaning of love, Bittersweet suggests she has now found it.

The anger at past love is still evident on Sleep in the Middle and bedroom ballad Unhappy, but she brings a new sweetness to survival guide Happily Ever After and the anthemic Breathe. The latter features a guest appearance from Sean Paul (standard-issue these days on albums for R&B divas) and dabbles in dancehall.

Elsewhere, Inner Circle's Ian Wilson brings reggae influences and Lil' Kim adds cocky rap vocals to the Latin beats of Impatient. And this is the problem with the album: the laid-back jazz of Cantrell's debut has been replaced with myriad styles and a more calculated, dancefloor-friendly sound.

You can't help but feel that this sugar-coated package is meant to attract a mainstream audience rather than develop Cantrell as an artist. Where So Blu was musically honest, Bittersweet comes out of a stint of learning what the music industry is really about.